Upper Deck’s Co-Founder Richard McWilliam Passes Away

Every industry has its major players.  When it comes to the sports card industry, Richard McWilliam was one of those major players.  Upper Deck began to make its dent in the industry with the release of 1989 Upper Deck Baseball.  The set revolutionized the industry with its premium card stock and anti-counterfeiting design.  Not only that, but card #1 in the set is Ken Griffey, Jr’s most popular rookie.  Upper Deck quickly went on to produce some of the industry’s first autographed and memorabilia cards all taking design into consideration.  All major players take heat from time to time, but then again who doesn’t.  McWilliam sure took his amount of heat covering various topics.  Lets face it, sports cards probably wouldn’t be where they are today without McWilliam’s input.

He’s probably up there right now organizing an autograph signing with Babe Ruth, Wilt Chamberlain, Lord Stanley, and Jim Thorpe.

R.I.P. Richard McWilliam